Erdoğan: 'Elections will be on May 14, earthquake will continue to be on our agenda'

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President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairperson Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated late last night (March 6) that the election process will start with a presidential decree he will issue on March 10, and that the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on May 14.

Türkiye needs a strong government in order to heal the wounds and recover from the effects of the February 6 earthquakes "which is identified as the disaster of the century," Erdoğan argued in the speech he made late at night following the cabinet meeting.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğu was announced yesterday as the presidential candidate of the opposition alliance of six political parties. The Good (İYİ) Party which opposed Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy, agreed upon by the other five parties on Thursday, was persuaded and returned to the bloc yesterday afternoon. Meral Akşener, the leader of the party participated in the last meeting of Table of Six before nominating Kılıçdaroğlu as their joint candidate.

Erdoğan did not comment in his speech on the crisis the "Table of Six" lived through. He responded to the critics from the opposition in relation to the February 6 earthquakes and said that they will "give the necessary answers to everyone and treat everyone as they deserve when everything returns to normal."

The earthquake will be on the agenda

Erdoğan told that the earthquake will continue to be on their agenda again during the election process. "The election process bears the risk of jeopardizing the efforts in the earthquake-hit regions with the political tensions it brings," argued Erdoğan. But he said that what Türkiye needs is "to focus so as to recover from the wounds and the losses in the region quickly." Therefore the election process which will cause the agenda to change should be left behind as soon as possible, the President argued.

Erdoğan said that they did not want to run an election campaign that creates political tensions and quarrels when "part of our country is destructed, ten million of our people have lost their houses, work or their peace. "You know we did not enter into political debates since the first day of the earthquake. We only said that we are taking note of everything that is being said and done," he said.

Erdoğan said that they will continue to keep these notes until they heal the wounds of the earthquake victims and make them smile again and that they will give the necessary answers to all after the country returns to the normal agenda.

Erdoğan also stated a presidential decree will be issued in order to ensure that the earthquake victims whose place of residence or voter registration has changed will not be deprived of the right to vote.

Erdoğan had, also before the February 6 earthquakes, announced that the presidential and parliamentary elections, normally scheduled for June 2023 were going to be brought forward and held on May 14, 2023.

The disastrous February 6 earthquakes hit 11 of the 81 provinces in the south and southeast of Türkiye. According to official figures, over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, including many public buildings, and nearly two million people have been displaced and are now living in tents or have moved to another city. (AEK/PE)